News round up: public sector; local authorities; unemployment

Labour’s plan for ‘John Lewis’ public servicesHospitals and schools would be transformed into John Lewis-style partnerships under radical plans that could form a central plank of Labour’s general election manifesto.Public sector bodies, which would also include leisure centres, housing organisations and social care providers, would be allowed to take control of their own affairs if staff and users voted in favour.

‘Under fire’ local authority chief executives set to quit David Clark, the director general of the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives, said many of the members he had spoken to “did not want the grief” of combining the implementation of cost cuts while receiving bad press for their high pay.

Sleep problems ‘could trigger manic depression in children’Chronic sleeping problems could trigger manic depression in children, a new study suggests. Researchers found that a gene which disrupts the body’s natural internal clock was strongly linked to the condition, also known as bipolar disorder.

The number of people who do not have a job – and are not bothering to look for one – has soared to its highest since records began in 1971. A record 7.9million – one in five people of working age – are ‘ economically inactive’. That is more than the entire population of Greater London.

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